Amazon Prime Day 2021 predictions: What to expect

June 17th, 2021 | Comperemedia News

Amazon Prime Day, one of the largest online shopping events outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, will take place on June 21st and 22nd in 2021 after being delayed until October in 2020.

This year, with consumer confidence at a COVID-era high, we predict an aggressive Prime Day promotion, including promotion of several spin-off services under the Prime umbrella, product deals not seen since 2019, a foray into support of small business, and much more.

Reopening products will be all the rage

With summer dates in the context of reopening economies across the country and world, Prime Day 2021 and sales by competitors will almost certainly feature products for travelers looking to get out of the house and social butterflies looking to make up for lost time with numerous outings with friends and family. That’s in contrast to last year’s deals, which centered around at-home tech like the Echo Dot, iRobot Roomba vacuum, Bose QuietComfort Wireless headphones, and many others that catered to both the colder weather of October and impending stay-at-home orders in the majority of the country brought about by the winter wave of COVID-19.

This year’s offerings could include fitness tools designed for venturing outdoors, like the new Amazon Halo paired with free months of Amazon Music Unlimited, tech designed to host the perfect indoor or outdoor gatherings like smart speakers and lights, or perfect travel companions, like new luggage or discounts on Audible subscriptions.

Prime Day will heavily support small businesses

During last year’s Prime Day, Amazon invested heavily in campaigns that highlighted the retailer’s efforts to support small businesses. While this year seems to be pointing in the same direction, Amazon will go the extra mile to demonstrate how Prime Day specifically supports small businesses. On its website, Amazon is already giving a $10 credit to Prime members who spend $10 on products from small businesses from June 7th through June 20th. Prime members will then be able to put those $10 towards their Prime Day purchases. In addition, Amazon is relying on famous personalities like Kristen Bell, Karamo Brown, and Mindy Kaling to bring awareness to this initiative. We expect Amazon to ramp up campaigns like these across channels as Prime Day gets closer.

Amazon will be on its best behavior before and during Prime Day

Even though Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, were the ones who voted against the biggest union push in the retailer’s 26-year history, the company’s reputation still took a hit, with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) saying that Amazon interfered with the voting process by installing a mailbox that, allegedly, the retailer had access to.

Amazon’s reputation was also hurt by its working conditions, with its workers resorting to unconventional solutions to bodily needs while continuing to work. This blow to Amazon’s reputation was exacerbated by a tweet by the retailer, dismissing the situation in what seems to be a nonchalant way.

Amazon will make an effort to look its best prior to and during Prime Day by highlighting the benefits it provides to its employees. We expect Amazon to highlight the fact that it’s implementing a $15 minimum wage across its workforce through a series of cross-channel campaigns, positioning itself as an ethical employer.

Prime Day Show: A chance to brag

This year’s Prime Day show will not only feature Billie Eilish, H.E.R. and Kid Cudi, but it will also feature cinematic performances that will visually captivate viewers. The artist lineup will allow Amazon to keep bragging about Amazon Music, while the visuals will help the retailer show off its production prowess and position Prime Video as a leading video streaming service. With this year’s show, Amazon also wants to create more awareness and motivate non-Prime members to subscribe to the service, as the concert will be free to stream through Prime Video.

Will we see Prime Day 2021 2.0?

Last year’s October Prime Day broke sales records for Amazon and came at the perfect time for consumers who just couldn’t wait until the holiday shopping season to snag deals on at-home products for the long winter ahead. With the COVID-19 outlook for fall and winter 2021 still murky, look for Amazon to announce a second Prime Day later in 2021, where the company can capitalize on the same scenario it did last year and throw off competitors who would likely have to scramble to organize a competitive sale. With increasing consumer confidence likely to last throughout 2021, a second Prime Day sale would once again break sales records for the company and cater to groups of consumers who deal-seek far in advance of the holiday shopping season.

To get a full recap of Amazon Prime Day 2021, clients can log in to view the comprehensive Prime Day 2021 report on Friday, June 25th.

Esteban Duverge is a Research Analyst on the Comperemedia team responsible for delivering insights through syndicated and custom reports in the financial services industry across different channels.

Nick Batt is a Senior Analyst at Comperemedia, providing marketing insights through syndicated and custom reports in the telecom, financial services and sports marketing sectors, with a focus on emerging trends and new product innovation.